


Autumn Festival

by Dream_wia_dream



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humor, M/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-16
Updated: 2011-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-19 11:39:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dream_wia_dream/pseuds/Dream_wia_dream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The bonfire was a Halloween tradition at Hogwarts. The lower years would spend days gathering wood from the edges of the forest. Stacking it up to dry. The bonfire this year was shaping up to be one of the largest in school history. There was much excitement leading up to that night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Autumn Festival

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on 10/30/2005 for the [Day 19 Prompt](http://scarvesnhats.livejournal.com/91672.html) at LJ community [ScarvesNHats](http://scarvesnhats.livejournal.com/profile)

The bonfire was a Halloween tradition at Hogwarts. The lower years would spend days gathering wood from the edges of the forest. Stacking it up to dry. The bonfire this year was shaping up to be one of the largest in school history. There was much excitement leading up to that night.

This year, Dumbledore had decided to liven up the Halloween festivities by making it a costume festival, as well. To add intrigue, and to satisfy his undying urge to play matchmaker, Dumbledore had decreed that couples should dress in matching pairs. The entertaining part of this, he said, was that people secretly wishing to become a couple, should try to dress to pair up with the object of their affection.

As a result, all anyone could talk about were the pairings for costumes.

James was currently standing in front of his wardrobe, trying to transfigure one of his robes.

"Damn, I just can’t…"

"James, what the hell are you trying to make? What is Evans having you dress up as?" Sirius yelled from across the room. Sprawled across the foot of Remus’ bed, eating an apple upside down, he was making a mess of himself.

James cursed again as his robes shrank and turned pink. "Damn, I’m never going to get this right," he yelled, looking down at the picture in his hand again.

Sirius rolled off the bed and strolled over to James, taking out his wand. "Lemme see if I can help you mate, what is it we’re trying to make?"

"It’s s’posed to be Robin Hood. But every single time I try it, it comes out pink and ruffly."

"Robin Hood, huh? That bloke we learned about in Muggle Studies. Rob from the rich, give to the needy, right? Lemme see the picture, and see what I can do."

James reluctantly handed the picture to Sirius, who promptly fell on the floor, clutching his sides, shaking with laughter. "Green…green tights…feather…tights….feathered hat….bwahahahaha."

James leaned down and snatched the picture away from the giggling boy on the floor, "Just shut it, I’ll do it myself. Don’t need help from you." He got as far as turning the robe green this time before it started growing ruffles and lace.

Remus, who had been watching the debacle from across the room, put down his book and walked over to his friends. He toed Sirius away, who was still spread out on his back on the floor looking at his friends chuckling occasionally.

"James, give me the picture. I can do the Robin Hood costume. You try to work on turning those socks into some green tights."

At the word tights, Sirius started rolling around, laughing again. Both of his dormmates ignored him, and went to work fixing James’ costume.

Remus looked at the illustration and back at the costume he’d managed to transfigure. When he was satisfied with his work, he turned around to James. James had managed to make a decent hat and Robin Hood-eque boots. But his attempt at green tights ended up as fishnet stockings, complete with a seam running up the back. This only made Sirius laugh harder.

"I just can’t do it. I think it’s the green. I can’t seem to make anything correctly when I’m going for green. Reminds me of Slytherin."

Remus let out a single chuckle, then changed the fishnet stockings into proper green tights. James’ ensemble was complete.

"So, Moony, whatcha gonna dress up as?", James asked as he packed away the costume.

Sirius stopped laughing and turned to hear Remus’ response with great concentration.

"Well, you remember those pictures that Patrick brought back with him. The ones he took at that club in Chicago? I thought it could be a good costume to go like that bloke in charge. You know, in his pajamas and a smoking jacket? I thought that would be easy and comfortable."

James thought for a minute, "Oh you mean that Playbunny club thingy? Yeah, that guy was pretty impressive. Surrounded by all those beautiful birds…ummm…bunnies."

Sirius leaped up, "That’s a great idea Moony. That Playboy Club guy looked like he knew what he was doing. You should definitely dress up like him. You’re gonna, right?"

"Yeah, Sirius, it’s the only idea I have, so that’s what it will be. What are you going as? Who are you going to be chasing all night?", Remus walked back over to his books to pick up where he had left off.

"It’s a surprise Mr. Moony. I will not reveal my costume to the likes of you two. You’d want to steal it for your own."

"Whatever you say, Pads," Remus settled back in to studying and forgot all about Sirius’ costume. He’d see what it was soon enough.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The night of the Halloween bonfire everyone in the castle was running on pure adrenaline. James was bouncing around the common room wearing his Robin Hood costume, and threatening anyone who walked by with his wooden sword. He didn’t want to carry a bow and quiver. And Lily refused to stand near him if he had a real sword, so the wooden sword was a compromise.

The only Gryffindor who seemed unaffected by the upcoming festivities was one Sirius Black.

"Sirius, aren’t you the least bit excited about all of this?" James shouted at his friend as he liberated a pumpkin pasty from one of the younger Gryffindors who made the mistake of walking too close to the energetic bandit.

"Nah, it’s just another night."

"But you are going to dress up, right," James mumbled through a mouthful of pasty, "It just wouldn’t be the same if you’re not there."

"Yeah, I’ll be dressing up. But I’m still not telling you what my costume is. You’ll just have to wait and find out like everyone else."

"Fine, have it your way. It’s just about time to go down for the lighting of the bonfire, anyway. You gonna get ready?"

"I’ll be down eventually. I have stuff to do first." Sirius said, vaguely gesturing to the magazine in his lap.

Remus came down the stairs from the dorm, dressed in silky pajamas and a dignified-looking smoking jacket.

Lily came down from her dorm right after, calling out, "Looking sharp Remus"

"Why thank you Maid Marian. You look rather beautiful, yourself." Remus said as he offered her his arm to escort her to where James lay sprawled across the common room couch.

"Paws off mister," James growled as he leapt up to take Lily’s hand. "And now, my fair Maid, shall we be off to the festivities?"

"Yes, let’s head down," Lily responded, turning around to look at Sirius, "Aren’t you coming down Sirius? Or will it be a quiet evening for once?"

"I’ll be down in a bit. You all head on down."

As the three left the dormitory, Sirius jumped up and ran headlong up the stairs to his dorm room. He passed Peter on his way down the stairs.

"A Cat Pete?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Yes, a cat. Martha insisted. Are you SURE none of you put her up to this?" Peter said tugging on his ears.

"I swear to you that none of us told her anything. At least she didn’t have you dress up like a mouse."

Peter turned, and went down the rest of the stairs grumbling to himself, and unconsciously playing with his tail.

Sirius dashed up the remaining stairs, closed and locked the door behind him. He wanted to make sure that no one saw his costume before he intended. Especially the person he wanted to match up with for the night. He thought his plan was brilliant. He pulled out the costume from the box underneath his bed.

He put on the black stockings with an ease that should not have come as gracefully to the boy as it did. After a bit of fumbling and yes, tucking, he finally got into the main body of the costume. The bra cups at the top seemed oddly empty, so he adjusted the costume to lie against his flat chest. The bunny ears were attached to a headband that he easily slid into his hair. After fastening the bowtie collar and cuffs, he walked over to look at himself in the mirror. He turned around to admire the tuft of a tail attached to the back of the costume. The blue Playboy Bunny waitress costume fit perfectly. He was going to knock Remus out with his costume.

The last piece of the costume lay on his bed. This was the only thing he was anxious about. The blue stiletto heels lay there, mocking him for his lack of confidence. He sat down on his bed and slipped the shoes on awkwardly. Once he had the shoes firmly set, he stood up, and promptly tumbled forward. Overbalanced in the unfamiliar shoes. He stood up and tried again. Once he steadied himself upright, he took a tentative step toward the middle of the room. He took four steps before his foot twisted out from under him, and he was in a heap on the floor again.

Growling, he stood once more. This time, he made it back over to his bed, and stood looking at the picture lying there. Patrick had taken several wizarding pictures on the sly of what he said was the Bunny Dip. The waitresses dressed in the bunny costumes would settle the drinks on the table with a kind of sideswinging dip of the knees. This was meant to look graceful, but Sirius had a sneaking suspicion it was to keep the blokes from looking down the front of their uniforms.

Sirius was determined to take this costume to the fullest. He wanted to Bunny Dip for Remus. And he wasn’t going to let a little thing like a pair of shoes keep him from it. After all, those muggle birds could do it, so he should be able to pull it off. He watched the picture one more time before he set it down. Standing next to his bed, he tried the swinging pose. And promptly fell face first onto his bed.

Sirius stood by his bed for twenty minutes trying to perfect his Bunny Dip. But, he just could not do it. It was the damn heels. He took off the heels, and was promptly able to swing his hips in just the right movement. He had perfected the Bunny Dip, but only without the heels.

So, Sirius decided to sacrifice that part of his costume. He decided that his black boots would work just as well. After all, he didn’t want to have to tromp over sticks and rocks in those heels he could barely walk five steps in without falling down.

Confident that his costume and pose were ready, Sirius grabbed James’ invisibility cloak from his trunk. This was the most crucial part of his plan. He wanted to sneak up on Remus and show off his bunny costume without having to endure the catcalls that were sure to come from the rest of his classmates.

He made is way down to the bonfire with no problems. People were walking around checking out each other’s costumes. And trying to figure out which of the single costumed people were trying for a match.

Sirius walked around until he found Remus sitting on a log at the far end of the festivities. For once, he didn’t have his nose buried in a book. He was lounging back, stargazing.

Sirius waited until the area was clear, and then swept off the cloak. He made his way carefully over to where Remus sat.

In a voice full of flirting overtones, Sirius walked up in front of Remus and said, "Well, hello sir, what can I get for you this evening?"

As he tried to Bunny Dip his way forward to be at eye level with Remus, Sirius overbalanced yet again, and fell ungraciously onto Remus’ lap.

"Pads?!? Is that you?", Remus started laughing so hard he toppled backwards off the log, dragging his bunny-clad friend on top of him. "Sirius, why on earth are you dressed like that"

"Oh never mind, just let me up…lemme go"

"No, not until you come clean…what’s with the girly swimming costume and ears?"

"Remus, just…I was trying to pair up with you"

"What Pads? I didn’t quite catch that."

"You were coming as that Hugh Hefner guy, and I. Wanted. To. Match. Up. With you. Thus the Bunny costume."

"Sirius, did you just…I mean…why would you…."

Sirius stared at his friend for a moment, and couldn’t decide what to say. So, he took the most direct route he could think of, leaned forward, and pressed his lips against the other boy’s. After a moment, he realized that he wasn’t being kissed back, and pulled away.

"Well, th- that was, um…unexpected.", Remus stuttered in a confused voice.

"Sorry Remus, " Sirius muttered, trying to disentangle himself from the other boy. "I’ll just…it was a stupid idea anyway."

Remus grabbed Sirius by the wrist and pulled him back down, "I’m expecting it now, how about we try that again."

Remus was fully involved in the kiss this time. He brought his arms up around Sirius and pulled him more firmly against his body. Both boys ignored the uncomfortable position in which they were draped over the log. Remus opened his mouth and ran his tongue over Sirius’ lips, questing for an entrance. Sirius groaned as he opened his mouth to his friend and sucked in his tongue. The two lay on the ground wrapped up in each other for an undetermined length of time. Stroking hands explored each other’s bodies, and eventually they ended up wrapped completely around each other.

Much later, James walked around trying to find Sirius. "He must be around here somewhere.", he muttered to himself, "I’ll just go find Remus and see if he’s seen Sirius". James walked up behind where Remus is perched in front of the bonfire. He’s about to call out to his friend, when he noticed someone perched between Remus’ legs, wrapped in his smoking jacket, leaning back against the boy. Remus whispered something to the other person. James chuckled when Sirius turned around and placed a light kiss on the side of Remus’ mouth. "It’s about time those two figured it out", he whispered to himself as he turned to walk away. He’ll find them later to talk about his next big idea.

**Author's Note:**

> The Playboy Club in Chicago was open from about 1960 through the mid 80’s. [This](http://pics.livejournal.com/dream_wia_dream/pic/0005wz09) is what a Bunny waitress would have been wearing.


End file.
